Log Cabin Democrat: Second Arkansan dies of tick-borne disease 6/19/97

Published Thursday, June 19, 1997

Thursday, June 19, 1997Second Arkansan dies of tick-borne disease

Last modified at 12:08 p.m. on Thursday, June 19, 1997

HEBER SPRINGS (AP) -- A second Arkansan has died of a tick-borne disease this year, and a Heber Springs physician says he has treated an unusually high number of tick-related problems this year.

''Either we're seeing more public awareness or more tick bites,'' Dr. Lee Vaughn said.

He estimates he has treated about 30 tick-bite victims this year, up from the usual 10.

Dr. Tom McChesney, epidemiologist for the state Health Department, said Wednesday, however, that the number of tick-related deaths ''is not an outbreak or an oddity.''

State health officials say tick-borne illnesses typically claim one or two Arkansans each year. In the most recent case, a Heber Springs man died Sunday of ehrlichiosis, marked by flu-like symptoms but without the nasal congestion.

In three weeks before entering a coma May 4, J.C. Shearer went to a physician three times to complain of flu-like symptoms, including headaches, high fever and muscle pain, said his son, Richard Shearer.

Eventually, J.C. Shearer's kidneys shut down.

Shearer died at St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock at age 73.

In the other case, J.C. Dorsey, 74, of Hensley, died June 5, also at St. Vincent and also of ehrlichiosis.

The state Health Department reported two deaths -- one from Rocky Mountain spotted fever and the other from tularemia -- among 80 cases of tick-borne illnesses in 1996.

Four types of tick-related illnesses occur in Arkansas, McChesney said. Last year, there were seven cases of ehrlichiosis, 22 cases of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, 27 cases of Lyme disease and 24 cases of tularemia.

Ehrlichiosis is hard to diagnose because it doesn't produce the skin rash that distinguishes Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Vaughan said. He said the illness is probably more pervasive than Health Department statistics indicate because it often goes undiagnosed and untreated.

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